| Background. Sixteen percent of adolescents in the United States are overweight, a condition which causes major medical and psychological problems. Emotional eating is a risk factor for obesity in adults. The purpose of this study is to investigate the emotional eating behavior of white and black adolescent females across puberty and adolescence. The aims are: (1) to examine whether adolescent females eat in response to emotions and if this changes with puberty, (2) to examine whether emotional eating in adolescent females is influenced by race, pubertal timing, and socioeconomic status (SES), and (3) to determine if emotional eating in early adolescence influences the development of obesity in late adolescence.; Conclusions. Emotional eating levels are low in the adolescent females and do not affect the development of obesity during the teen years. However, there are interesting racial and SES differences that are worthy of further study, as emotional eating does influence adult obesity. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
